Cushion heel



March 19, 1929..

C. TURN CUSHION HEEL Original Filed March 26, 1923 @VEA/70@ @ww/L7M Patented Mar. 419, 1929. l

UNITED STA 'rissA PATENT oFFlcE.

CAMERON TURNER, OE'REVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIeNoR To UNITED sIIoE MA- CHINERY coRroRATIoN, oF PATERsoN, NEW JERSEY, A- CORPORATION 0E NEW JERSEY.

CUSHION HEEL;

Application filed March 26, 1923, Seria1 No..627,785. Renewed Ianuary, 1929.

This invention relates to cushion heels and has particular reference to the provision of improved means for anchoring -the headstof thefastenings in rubber or other similar cushion heels which are to be attached to shoes by nails or like headed fastenings.

The almost universal practice in the past has been to embed in a rubber heel, at the locations where the attaching nails were to be driven, 4a plurality of separate, isolated washers through which the nails were driven and which prevented the nail .heads from pulling through the rubber body of the heel..

The placing of these washers upon the supe porting pins in the mold in which the heel is'` vulcanized during the process of its manufacture consumes a great amount of time, 'v and the labor cost of this operation is anl important factor in the total manufacturing cost of rubber heels. Furthermore, while the Washers perform their intended function fairly well, they nlot infrequently become loosened from the rubber', whereupon their effectiveness is greatly decreased.

Attempts have been made to overcome the drawbacks referred to by employing a metallic skeleton plate or a piece of fibrous material, as a substitute for the washers. The metallic plate, if it'be of sufficient area to receive all the attaching nails, is objectionable.

' with the total value of the manufactured heel.

` rovi'de a cushion heel Which can be` manu actured at a minimum cost and which shall possess the combined advantages of heels already known, without any o'f the attendant disadvantages. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention a rubber heels is provided which is as flexible and resilient as the ordinary isolated washer heel, in which the nail head anchoring means is permanently inseparable from the rubber, and which may be manufactured very economically. As hereindisclosed these results are secured by the provision of a plurality of ex'ibly connected nail holding inserts. These inserts,

' the .tendency of individual nails to pull the It is the object of the present invention to which are preferably substantially rigid in themselves, may be mounted in properly spaced relation -in a piece of suitable flexible material, for example, canvas, which may be handled as a unit and which is capable of being vulcanized securely to the rubber or other material constituting. the body of the heel. As'herein illustrated, a plurality of eyelets are set, in a pattern corresponding to the desired nailing, in a mounting con- 'sistin of a skeleton piece of canvas of ap` proprlate shape. This element may be placed in the \vulcanizing mold, with the eyelets upon the mold pins, at a single movement; the rubber vulcanizes readily and securely to the canvas; and, while a single layer of fabric ofy a comparatively cheap quality is suiicient, it aids very greatly in maintaining the eyelets in their proper positions in the rubber.

While the canvas mounting is suflicient-ly flexible not to impair the flexibility of a.heel as a whole, it aids in distributing the pull of the nails upon the rubber and eliminates washers-or,- in the present case, eyeletsloose from the rubber. The eyelets, set in nthe canvas mounting, aord a superior anchorage for the attaching nails and the attachment o f the heel to a shoe is exceptionally secure. K

' Other features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly understood from reading the following detailed description of one satisfactory, embodiment thereof in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective viewv of a heel embodying the invention, with a portion cut awa to show the interior construction;

F 1g. 2 is a transverse section 0n the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 showing the heel attached to a shoe; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional detail showing a modified form of insert.

l() indicates the body portion of a cushion heel which may be made of rubber composition or any other suitable material capable of being vulcanized. For convenience in description the heel will hereinafter be Ireferred to as a rubber heel, this term being understood `to include Vany heel made of suitable equivalent material.

As illustrated, a D-,shaped piece 12 of fibrous material is vulcanized in the heel yand' 110 constitutes amounting for a plurality of eyelet-like metallic inserts 14, through which.

the attaching nails 16 are to be driven. The

mounting 12 may be made of anysuitable sheet It has been found that a light grade ofpcan-` Vas or duck serves the purpose satisfactorily and can be utilized lat a minimum cost.

The nail anchoring inserts 14 preferably. consist of metallic eyelets set in the canvas by,`

insertingand clenching them in a manner well known to those skilled in the art and so .arranged and spaced that they will easily lit over the usual Washer pins of a rubber heel mold. The'support 12 with the eyelets 14 mounted therein may bev inserted in the heel mold by a single motion, practically as quickly as one of the usual rubber' heel washers; furthermore, bein" of substantial size,.it is much easier to handle than the small washers generally employed. Vhen ,it is realized that a rubber heel commonly contains from six to eight washers, which kmust be separately placed upon the mold pins, it will be appreciated that a great saving of time in this'part of the heel manufacturing process is effected by the present invention, as compared with the handling of individual washers.

The mountingmember 12 may be quite flexible so as not to impart to the heel the objectionable rigidity which results from the use of metal plates of equivalent area, and it has ,the further advantage of .greatervdurabilitv since it is made of material towhich the rubber can be securely and permanently vulcanized whereas the vulcanization of rubber to metal is more or less uncertain and the adhesion between thetwo is frequently insecure or temporar While the mounting member 12 need not be as heavy or strong as would Vbe necessary if it were to be depended upon eX- clusively to prevent the heads ofthe nails 16 from pulling through, yet the eyelets 14 which are engaged bythe headspof the nails have a very firm hold upon the mounting which is effective to distribute the strain o each nail over a considerable area.

Furthermore, as is well known, the spacing of the washer pins in rubber heel mololsis` not thesameas the spacing of the corresponding holes in the nailing die of standard heeling machines by which the heels are attached,

the reason for this being that the heels shrink materially in the curing process and suitable allowance for this shrinkage is made when the pins are located .in the mold. This lack of identity in spacing between the pins of the heel mold and the holes in .the nailing'die of the heeling machine gives rise to so much difiiculty that heels provided with metal plates having their holes spaced to fit the mold pins are unsuitable for machine attaching.- The mounting member 12 herein described may be, however, sufliciently flexible to permit the heel to shrink naturally and specially designed molds are, therefore, not required to manufactureheels which are capable of proper nailing with a standard heeling machine.

IVhile the drawings illustrate a rubber half heel used in combination with a rigid base section 18 and attached to a shoe 20, it should be understood that the invention is equally applicable to 'whole heels andto cushion heels of any form or shape.-

Fig. 3 illustrates a modified form of eyelet 22 which has a conicalsurface 24 for guiding the point of a nailtoward the central hole and which, in this respect, has the same advautages as the well known conical washer.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to Letters Patent-is 1. A cushion heel having embedded therein a plurality of nail holding inserts and a mounting of sheet material different from that of which the inserts are composed to which said inserts are secured. c

be secured by 2. A cushion heel having embedded there- (in a plurality of separate, nail engaging eyelets and a mounting' member in whichl said eyelets are inserted and clenched.

3. In acushion heel, a piece of non-metalli@ sheet material having an eyelet set therein.

4. In a cushion heel, a piece of non-metallic sheet material having a plurality of separate eyelets set therein.

5. A cushion heel having embedded therevin a flexible mounting of sheet material and a plurality of separate, conical nail engaging eyelets inserted and clenched in said mountin".

la). A Vnailv anchoring element for cushion heels comprising a sheet material mounting having a plurality of separate eyelets inserted and clenched therein in the pattern of the desired nailing. A i

7. A rubber heel having vulcanized therein a piece of fabric in which are set a series of metallic eyelets arranged in the pattern of the desired nailing.

In testimony whereof I have signed 'my name to this specification.

' f CAMERON TURNER. 

